Terracotta Warriors guard City Hall

The seven foot tall sculptures are recreations of some of the 8,000 which were buried with the first Chinese emperor to protect him in his afterlife.

They have been painted by both amateurs and professionals, and will tour Northern Ireland in the coming months, passing through Enniskillen and Londonderry.

Belfast artist Christine Trueman said she got involved in the project through social media.

"There was a call out to all artists involved," she told UTV. "I was really attracted by the whole multicultural aspect of it, my work is typically very bright and colourful so to get to work on a warrior as a canvas was really exciting for me."

Each of the Xi'an warriors represents different elements of Chinese culture.

Explaining how she chose to decorate her statue, Christine continued: "The remit was just to have anything to do with Chinese culture or Belfast culture.

"So I went for a bit of Chinese symbolism, the plum blossom, which is an important aspect of Chinese culture and represents Spring time and new growth, new life and diversity."